1. What happens in your scene? Outline the basic events.
Scene 3.4 takes place in a room of state in the palace where a feast is held. People in high position, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, and lords gather all together in one table. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter as king and queen. Then one of the murderers comes in and informs him that he has killed Banquo but his son Fleance has escaped. This brings Macbeth an anxiety again; he fears if Fleance would take his position away from him and he thinks his throne is insecure. Suddenly the ghost of Banquo enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth seems like the only one who is able to see the ghost; when Lennox offers him a seat reserved, he goes almost crazy. Lady Macbeth tries to comfort him but eventually everyone in the room is forced out except Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Macbeth tells his wife that he has seen Banquo but his wife does not seem to trust her. Macbeth also informs her that Macduff is trying to keep away from court and prepare for treachery. He claims that he will visit the Witches to learn more about his future and who is going against him. He is eager to do everything to keep his throne. At last, Lady Macbeth says that he needs some sleep and they all go to bed.
2. What do you think are the key purposes of your scene? In other words, why is this scene important?
Transformation in Macbeth has already occurred in previous scenes. He is the one to decide to kill Banquo after hearing the Witches' prophecy that he will beget the kings without discussing the matter with Lady Macbeth. He ordered the three murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance secretly. During the feast held in the palace, Macbeth is outraged by the fact that the murderers have killed Banquo but not Fleance. He says "Then comes my fit again," which means that he is now scared again because someone could take the throne away from him. He thinks his position is insecure again. Then the ghost of Banquo enters the room and sits in Macbeth's seat. Since Macbeth is the only one able to see the ghost, he goes crazy and yells at the ghost, which makes people there astonished. This scene is significant because this scene shows Macbeth's increasing fear. Macbeth becomes mentally unstable after he sees the ghost. I think this scene is also important because it makes the readers curious if his excessive fear is going to cause another crime since he is willing to do everything to keep his throne.
3. What are your reactions to this scene?
After reading this scene, I thought the part where the ghost of Banquo was appealing. In my opinion, the ghost of Banquo seems to be Macbeth's illusion caused by Macbeth's increasing fear. Also I was not surprised the fact that Macbeth is greatly afraid if someone would take his power because he was not a brave, evil human being from the beginning like Lady Macbeth (And here Lady Macbeth's transformation did not take place yet). I expected that Lady Macbeth would be mad at Macbeth because he made the guests leave because she wants Macbeth to have closer relationship with the generals and other lords.
Character Report
No matter how big or small the part, every actor needs to know the answers to the following questions for his/her character. Answer the following questions for the characters you will play.
Character:Lady Macbeth 1. What does your character want in this scene?
Lady Macbeth wants her husband Macbeth to have more intimate relationships with the generals and lords through the feast held in the palace.
2. What is your character's motivation for doing what he or she does?
Lady Macbeth holds a feast in order to be closer with the generals and lords and her motivation for doing this was to keep the throne.
3. What obstacles stand in his or her way?
Macbeth stands in her way in this scene, because he makes the guests bewildered by his strange behavior.
4. What happens when your character confronts these obstacles?
At first, she tries to convince the guests that Macbeth is fine. However, as soon as the guests leave, she is mad at Macbeth and scolds him for not being responsible in front of the guests.
5. Are there any distinctive elements in your character's way of speaking? (Is his or her language elaborate, plain, musical, or what?)
In front of the guests, Lady Macbeth's way of speaking seems to be very gentle and polite. (Textual Evidence: 3.4 lines 53-54 Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat.) But her tone changes from politeness to anger when talking to Macbeth. (Textual Evidence: 3.4 line 57 - Are you a man? 60 Oh, proper stuff!)
6. What is your character thinking during the scene? (How does he or she react to the other characters and events?)
Lady Macbeth only thinks about remaining the feast in a good mood so that the generals and lords could support Lady Macbeth and Macbeth keep their position. That is the reason why she gets mad when Macbeth yells at the ghost of Banquo.
Reflection:
1. Evaluate the performance of your group. What went well? What didn’t go well?
I think our performance was okay. I think our group had one of the best props including the crown,food, and tables. I also think that our movement was organized very well. What I was not satisfied about our performance was that we were supposed to put spooky background music when the ghost appears but we forgot about it during the play. 2. How well did you contribute to your group?
Everyone cooperated to plan the settings of the performance such as turning off the lights when we get changed; I brought most of the props like food, crown, and forks/knives. 3. How well did you perform as an individual?
I am not fully satisfied with my performance; it would have been better if I raised my voice when I was supposed to yell at Macbeth. However I think the angry emotion of Lady Macbeth was shown through my tone of voice when Macbeth yelled at the ghost. 4. What could have improved your scene performance?
I think I should have sounded more dramatic when Lady Macbeth was trying to stop Macbeth from yelling at the ghost. 5. How did the scene performance help you better understand the play.
The scene performance definitely helped me to better understand the play; through the annotation I was able to interpret most of the lines in Act 3 scene 4.
Scene Analysis <3.4>
1. What happens in your scene? Outline the basic events.
Scene 3.4 takes place in a room of state in the palace where a feast is held. People in high position, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, and lords gather all together in one table. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter as king and queen. Then one of the murderers comes in and informs him that he has killed Banquo but his son Fleance has escaped. This brings Macbeth an anxiety again; he fears if Fleance would take his position away from him and he thinks his throne is insecure. Suddenly the ghost of Banquo enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth seems like the only one who is able to see the ghost; when Lennox offers him a seat reserved, he goes almost crazy. Lady Macbeth tries to comfort him but eventually everyone in the room is forced out except Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Macbeth tells his wife that he has seen Banquo but his wife does not seem to trust her. Macbeth also informs her that Macduff is trying to keep away from court and prepare for treachery. He claims that he will visit the Witches to learn more about his future and who is going against him. He is eager to do everything to keep his throne. At last, Lady Macbeth says that he needs some sleep and they all go to bed.
2. What do you think are the key purposes of your scene? In other words, why is this scene important?
Transformation in Macbeth has already occurred in previous scenes. He is the one to decide to kill Banquo after hearing the Witches' prophecy that he will beget the kings without discussing the matter with Lady Macbeth. He ordered the three murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance secretly. During the feast held in the palace, Macbeth is outraged by the fact that the murderers have killed Banquo but not Fleance. He says "Then comes my fit again," which means that he is now scared again because someone could take the throne away from him. He thinks his position is insecure again. Then the ghost of Banquo enters the room and sits in Macbeth's seat. Since Macbeth is the only one able to see the ghost, he goes crazy and yells at the ghost, which makes people there astonished. This scene is significant because this scene shows Macbeth's increasing fear. Macbeth becomes mentally unstable after he sees the ghost. I think this scene is also important because it makes the readers curious if his excessive fear is going to cause another crime since he is willing to do everything to keep his throne.
3. What are your reactions to this scene?
After reading this scene, I thought the part where the ghost of Banquo was appealing. In my opinion, the ghost of Banquo seems to be Macbeth's illusion caused by Macbeth's increasing fear. Also I was not surprised the fact that Macbeth is greatly afraid if someone would take his power because he was not a brave, evil human being from the beginning like Lady Macbeth (And here Lady Macbeth's transformation did not take place yet). I expected that Lady Macbeth would be mad at Macbeth because he made the guests leave because she wants Macbeth to have closer relationship with the generals and other lords.
Character Report
Character: Lady Macbeth
1. What does your character want in this scene?
Lady Macbeth wants her husband Macbeth to have more intimate relationships with the generals and lords through the feast held in the palace.
2. What is your character's motivation for doing what he or she does?
Lady Macbeth holds a feast in order to be closer with the generals and lords and her motivation for doing this was to keep the throne.
3. What obstacles stand in his or her way?
Macbeth stands in her way in this scene, because he makes the guests bewildered by his strange behavior.
4. What happens when your character confronts these obstacles?
At first, she tries to convince the guests that Macbeth is fine. However, as soon as the guests leave, she is mad at Macbeth and scolds him for not being responsible in front of the guests.
5. Are there any distinctive elements in your character's way of speaking? (Is his or her language elaborate, plain, musical, or what?)
In front of the guests, Lady Macbeth's way of speaking seems to be very gentle and polite. (Textual Evidence: 3.4 lines 53-54 Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus, and hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat.) But her tone changes from politeness to anger when talking to Macbeth. (Textual Evidence: 3.4 line 57 - Are you a man? 60 Oh, proper stuff!)
6. What is your character thinking during the scene? (How does he or she react to the other characters and events?)
Lady Macbeth only thinks about remaining the feast in a good mood so that the generals and lords could support Lady Macbeth and Macbeth keep their position. That is the reason why she gets mad when Macbeth yells at the ghost of Banquo.
Reflection:
1. Evaluate the performance of your group. What went well? What didn’t go well?
I think our performance was okay. I think our group had one of the best props including the crown,food, and tables. I also think that our movement was organized very well. What I was not satisfied about our performance was that we were supposed to put spooky background music when the ghost appears but we forgot about it during the play.
2. How well did you contribute to your group?
Everyone cooperated to plan the settings of the performance such as turning off the lights when we get changed; I brought most of the props like food, crown, and forks/knives.
3. How well did you perform as an individual?
I am not fully satisfied with my performance; it would have been better if I raised my voice when I was supposed to yell at Macbeth. However I think the angry emotion of Lady Macbeth was shown through my tone of voice when Macbeth yelled at the ghost.
4. What could have improved your scene performance?
I think I should have sounded more dramatic when Lady Macbeth was trying to stop Macbeth from yelling at the ghost.
5. How did the scene performance help you better understand the play.
The scene performance definitely helped me to better understand the play; through the annotation I was able to interpret most of the lines in Act 3 scene 4.